Telephone registration system.



Y NO- '140,053. EATBLNTBD SEPT. 29, 1903.

' [l A.. mjsmimom. TELE2/mm1 REGISTRATION s-YMEM.

MEMO-Anon PILED APR. 29, 19oa.

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, ATTORNEY f me mams Param no, murciano.. wAsHmomN. n. c.

ino. 740,0531.

UNITED STATES Ilaten'ted September 29, 1903;.

PATENT OFFICE.

TELEPHONE REGISTRATION SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 740,053, datedSeptember 29, 1903. Application filed April 29, 1903l 'Serial No.154,741. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern.-

Be itknown thatIgALBERT J. SPEINGBORN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga andA State ofOhio,`have invented a new and useful Improvement in TelephoneRegistration Systems, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to telephone systems, and has more particularreference to the means employed for registering the calls made byparties yto which some other party responds and also for registering thenumber of calls to which the wrong party responds, so that the exactnumber of successful calls can be readily ascertained.

The invention also comprises certain locking-out features and otherdetails of construction, as will hereinafter be fullyv described.

In the drawings, in which similar reference characters designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views, Figure 1 is a'diagrammatic view of the connections for two telephones, said telephoneshaving my invention applied thereto and being connected through thecentral station. Fig.A 2 is a diagrammatic view, on a larger scalo, ofthe various connections and parts at one of the telephones, the talkingand signaling circuits being omitted. one of the registers. view ofone'of the plugs for the connectingcables at central, and Fig. 5 isasimilar View of a special plug.

The inequality in the charges actually made by telephone companies fortheir unlimited service-by which it costs a party making ten calls perday, for example, as much as it costs another party who uses histelephone almost constantly-and the trouble and annoyance to users ofparty-line or limited-service telephones occasioned by lbeing calledupon by central to state their numbers whenever they make a call and intheir having to rely entirely upon the honesty of the operator girl tocheck up and charge them with r only the successful calls made give riseto considerable phone-users. The telephone companies are also deprivedof considerable business, for the Fig. 3 is a perspective view of' Fig.4is a sectional` dissatisfaction amongv telereason'that many people willnot put up with the annoyances of a limited service and their needs notwarranting the expense of an unlimited service they dispense withtelephones altogether. Furthermore, the companies lose extensivelybecause of the failure of the operators to register the calls made bythesubscribers to the limited service.

For the above reasons a good, simple, and reliable system by which thecalls from each telephone will be automatically registered at suchtelephone has been vin demand, and it is for the purpose of satisfyingthis demand that I have invented the system shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in Which- 1 represents the hooks of the telephones A and B; 2represents the receivers; 3, the transmitters, and 4 the call-bells. 1As these telephones have the usual talking and signaling circuits, it isnot deemed necessary to describe them further except to state that theyare connected through the wires 5 and 6 with the main lines 7 and 8.

The central station is indicated at C, and

vfor purposes of simplicity of description and illustra-tion is dividedinto a left and right switchboard a and b. This switchboard is of themultiple type, the jacks 9 and 10 being in multiple or parallel acrossthe main lines 7 and 8. The jacks comprise the sleeves 11 and thesprings 12.

13 and 14 represent the wires comprising a cable at the centralgstation,said wires being connected to the tube and tip conductors, respectively,of the plugs 15. `One of these plugs is shown in section in Fig. 4., inwhich the said tube and tip conductors are indicated at 16 and 17,respectively. Projecting Avfrom the forward end of the tip is a pointedspur 18 of insulating material, said material being secured 'to t-he tipin any suitable man- 4earth at c through the wire 20, battery 21, and

Wire 22.

The sleeves and springs of the jacks 10 are connected with the mainwires 7and 8 through IOOV the wires 23 and 24. Of course these mainwires may have as many jacks on the switchboard as may be necessary,there being as many jacks as there are sections in the multiple board.

At the rear ot those jacks that are connected with the same set of mainlines is'a sectional wire 25, said wire being separable at points justto the rear of the jacks, although the sections are normally connectedthrough the spring-terminals 26. When either of the plugs l5 or 19 isinserted in a jack, however, the pointed spur 1S on said plug separatesthe terminals and breaks the circuit through said wire. As shown at d,the wires 25 are connected to the earth.

As the connections for all the telephones are identical, I will describethe same for one telephone, it being understood that the def scriptionapplies to all the telephones alike..

segment 30 is connected by the wire 32 to the wire 6, and the segment 3lis connected to a wire 33, that leads through a solenoid 34 to thenegative side of a battery 35. This battery is connected, through theconductor 36, to the ground at e. 37 and 38 are other segments that arearranged below the segments 30 and 3l and in such a position that whenthe conductor-plate 29 moves from the latter segment it will bridge thelower segments. The segment 37 is connected with the wire 6 through thewire 39, and the segment 38 is connected to a wire 40, that leads toelectromagnets 4l and 42 and thence to a wire 43. The electromagnets areconnected through a soft-iron yoke 440, so as to have their free polesfacing each other, the magnets being so wound as to give a north and asouth pole. One end of the wire 43 terminates in one ot' a set ofcontact-pieces 44 and 45, the contact 45 being connected with thegrounded wire 36 through the wire 46. The other end of the wire 43terminates in a contact-piece 47.

The contact-pieces 44 and 45 are normally connected by a yieldingcontact-strip 48, that is carried by a lever 4U, said lever beingpivotedintermediate its length and being pulled in a direction toseparate the contact-pieces by a spring 50. While the telephone-hook isdown, the lever 49 is held with the strip 48 bridging the contacts by apin 5l on the hook extension 28, and the lever is retained in thisposition by a hook 52, that engages with its upper end, said hook beingnormally pulled into engaging position by a spring 53.

54 is a lever that is pivoted intermediate its ends and that is heldagainst the contactpoint 47 by a spring 5,5. On the OPPOSite side of itspivot it bears against another contact-piece 56, said piece beingconnected, through the wires 57 and 58, solenoid 59, and wire 60, withthe main wire 7. 6l and 62 are other contact-points, the former beingconnected, through wire 63, with the wire 33 and the other beingconnected directly to the wire 5S. These contact-points are normallyseparated, but are adapted to be bridged at times by the lever 54.

The telephone-hook preferably terminates in a finger 64, that projectsso as to be intercepted at times by the plunger 65 of the solenoid 34,said plunger being normally pushed into intercepting position by aspring 66, coiled thereabout. When the solenoid is en ergized, theplunger will be retracted to permit the hook to fly up or the finger 64to descend, and when the said'tinger moves upwardly again the plunger iscammed back, so that the finger can pass it.

67 is a plunger for the solenoid 59, said plunger being connected withthe hook 52, heretofore described. When the solenoid is energized, theplunger will be retracted to permit the hook to disengage the lever 49,so that the spring 50 can act to break the circuit at the contacts 44and 45.

68 is a lever that is pivoted intermediate its length, with its lowerend extending between the poles of the magnet 4l 42, said lever beingheld with this end midway between the poles by springs 69 and 70. Thelever is magnetized, so that the lower end N is either a north or asouth pole. When the' lower end is drawn to the left, Fig. 2, the upperend of the lever trips the lever 54, and thus breaks contact with thepoints 47 and 56 and connects the contacts 61 and 62.

7l and 72 are registers thatare connected with the upper end of thelever 68 by means of slotted Ilinks 73 and 74 and the cranks 75 and 76.While any suitable form of register or indicating mechanism may beemployed, I prefer to use the form shown in Fig. 3, in which the rockingmovement of the crank 75 back and forth adds the number of suchsuccessive movements on the addingwheels,

-said number appearing through a slot, as

shown. When the upper end of the lever 68 is moved to the right, theregister 7l will be operated, the pin-and-slot connection with the link74 permitting such movement without operating the register 72. When,however, the lever is moved in the opposite direction, the register 72will be operated, and the register 7l will remain stationary.

Sol

IOO

IIO

Having thus described the various parts l and their connections, I willnow describe the operation, assuming that party B desires to talk withparty A. As B takes up his receiver the rear end of his hook swingsdown.

wardly, causing the plate29 to bridge the segments 30 3l, thusestablishing a circuit from Bs battery 35 through the following circuit:wire 36 to earth at e, through the earth to d at the central station,wires 25, 8, 6, and 32, segments 30 31, wire 33, and solenoid 34 to thebattery again. When the solenoid 34 is energized, the plunger isretracted, so that the hook may continue its movement, which continuesuntil the segments 37 38 are connected. As these segments are notconnected with Bs battery, there is no current therefrom at this time.The ascent of Bs hook 1 closes his talking-circuit in the usual way andsignals the operator at central, who plugs into Bs jack to ascertain whois wanted. As she does this the spur 18 on the plug separates thecontacts 26 and breaks the connection with the earth at d. Havinglearned that B is wanting to talk with A, the operator plugs into Asjack and calls him inthe usual manner. Responding to his call, Ak takesup his receiver and permits the contact-plate 29 to bridge his segments30 3l, thus establishing a circuit from his battery 35 through thefollowing connections: wire 36, earth from e to e, it being rememberedthat wires are broken by the plugs at central, wire 36 in Bs telephone,wire 46, contact-plate 48, wires 43 and 40, through the electromagnets4l and 42, segments 37 38, wires 39, 6, and 8 to the .central station,strand 14 of the cable, wires 24,

. 8, 6, and 32 to the segments 30 3l, and wire 33 and solenoid 34 to Asbattery again. In passing through the electromagnets 41 42 the polarizedlever 68 is drawn in one directionsay toward the magnet 4l'-which willresult in adding one call to the register 71. It will thus be seen thatno call is registered unless Aftakes'up his receiverto answer. Thecurrent `from As battery also draws back his plunger 65, so that hishook can continue its movement until it bridges the segments 37 38, whenAs talking-circuit is established.

In order to prevent any possibility of in-` terfercnce fromearth-currents through parts of the talking-circuit and also to preventthe interruption and false registration due to other parties inparty-line systems who could take down their receivers and causeregistrations to take place on those telephones in the talking-circuit,I provide means for' breaking the circuit leading to the ground at eachtelephone as soon as registration at Bs telephone has taken place. f yWhen Bs lever 68 was swung to operate his register, as above described,its upper end turned the lever 54 and closed the contacts 61 62, thussendinga current from Bs bat` tery 35 through the followingcircuit: wire36, earth from e to e Vat As telephone, wires 36 and 46, contact-plate48, wire 43,'lever 54, wire 57, solenoid 59, Wires 60,7, andv23 to thejack' and plug, strand 13 of the cable to theother plug and jack, wires7 and 60,solenoid 59,Wire 58, lever 54, and wire 63 to the batteryagain. the solenoids 59 the hooks 52 are lifted torelease the levers 49,which swing so as to sepaf rate the contacts 44 45, and thus break theAs the current passes through The solenoids 34, `with theirlocking-plun-- gers, are employed to prevent the possible cheating ofthe device by the party calling,

who could depress his hook slightly to disconf nect his segments 37 38as soon as he had told the central operator whom he wanted and then waitwith his hookin this position until the other'party had probably takendown his r`eceiver. It being remembered that Bs segments 37 38 must bebridged at the same time that As segments 30 3l are connected, it willbe seen that such an operation would prevent registration. With thesolenoids and plungers, however, it will be impossible for A to unlockhis hook to talk until Bs hook connects his segments 37 38.

When the wrong party answers to the call, it is necessary to make somerecord of such fact, so that the exact number of successful calls can beascertained.- When such an answer is received, it is only necessary-forB or the party calling to hang up his receiver, which will cause the pin51 on his hook to restore his circuit, and then call central and.

oft" the hook: Wire 20, tip 17, wires 8, 6, and

39, segments 37 38, `wire 40, magnets 41 42, wires 4,3, 46, and 36,ground c to c, and wire 22 to battery again.

larizedlever 68 will be swung' in the opposite wrong answers on theregister 72. By using a register that will subtract when movedbackwardly it is evident that I can cause the same to show thenumber of'successful,

calls; but as the registers 72indicate more' or less accurately themistakes-made by the operators at central I registers7l and 72, asshown.

Having thus described my invention, what As this current passes throughthe magnets in a direction oppositeV to that for adding on the register7l, the pot 'no direction, which will 'add the number" of ICO prefer touse thetwo I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters l.l In atelephone'system,a plurality'of telephones having hooks for theirreceivers, an electric circuit that'is controlled by the hooks ot anyvtwo of said telephones,and means for preventing the' movementl of thevhook of one of the two telephones to talking positionun'- less the hookof the other is fully raised.

2. In a telephone system a plurality of tele'- phones having hooks, anelectric circuit that iscontrolled by the hooks of any two of saidtelephones, and a solenoid having a plunger for engaging the hook of oneof the two telephones, said solenoid being in the said electlic circuit,and said plunger engaging and locking the said hook so that it cannotmove to talking position unless the hook of the other one of the twotelephones is fully raised.

3. In a system for indicating the numberof calls made from telephones,aplurality of telephones having receiver-hooks, indicating devices ateach of the telephones, contact-pieces at the telephone that is calling,said pieces being electrically connected when the receiver-hook is fullyraised, contact-pieces at the telephone that is called, said latterpieces being electrically connected when the hook of that telephone isonly partially raised, an electric circuit including all of saidcontactpieces, a ,source of electric power and an electro'magnet in saidcircuit, and means whereby said electromagnet operates the indicatingdevice at the telephone that is calling.

4. In a system for indicating the number of calls made from telephones,a device at each of the telephones for indicating the number of answeredcalls made from the respective telephones, means whereby said devicesare operated from the telephones that are called, a second device ateach of the telephones for indicating the number of wrongly-answeredcalls made from the respective telephones, an electromagnet, means forsending a current through said magnet in one direction to operate thefirst-mentioned indicating device, and means for sending a currentthrough the said magnet in the opposite direction for operating theother indicating device.

5. In a system for indicating the number of calls made from telephones,the plurality of telephones, a device at each ofthe telephones forindicating the number of answered calls made from the respectivetelephones, means whereby the said devices are operated from thetelephones that are called, a second device at each of the telephonesfor indicating the number of wrongly-answered calls made from therespective telephones, an electromagnet having its north and south polesfacing each other, a magnetized lever having one of its poles normallymidway between the `said magnet-poles, means for sending a currentthrough the said magnet in one direction to move the lever in onedirection to operate one of the indicating devices, and means forsending a current through the magnet in the other direction to reversethe movementof the lever and thus operate the other indicating device.

6. In a system for indicating the number of calls made from telephones,a device at each telephone for indicating the number of answered callsmade therefrom, a source of electric power at the telephone that iscalled, a grounded wire connected with said source of power, a groundedwire at the telephone that is calling, connections for sending a currentthrough said grounded wires to operate the said indicating device at thetelephone that is calling, and means for breaking the circuit leading tothe ground at one of the telephones when the said indicating device isoperated.

7. In a system for indicating the number of calls made from telephones,a plurality of telephones, a device at each telephone for indicating thenumber of answered calls made therefrom, a source of electric power atthe telephone that is called, a grounded wire connected with said sourceof power, a grounded wire at the telephone that is calling, connectionsfor sending a current through said grounded wires to operate the saidindicating device at the telephone that is calling, and means forbreaking the circuit leading to the ground at both of the telephoneswhen the said indicating device is operated.

8. In a system for indicating the number of calls made from telephones,aplurality of telephones, a register at each telephone for showing thenumber of answered calls made therefrom, an electromagnet, a lever movedby said magnet to cause the register to operate, a source of electricpower at the telephone that is called, a grounded wire connected withsaid source of power, a grounded wire at the telephone that is calling,connections for sending a current through said grounded wires to movethe said lever and thus operate the said register at the telephone thatis calling, and a circuit-closer operated by the saidregisteroperatinglever for closing a circuit and means in said circuitthat causes the circuit leading to the ground to be broken, for thepurpose specified.

9. In a system for indicating the number of calls made from telephones,a plurality of telephones, a device at the telephone that is calling forindicating the number of answered calls made therefrom, a grounded wireat said telephone, a grounded wire at the telephone that is called, asource of electric power at the latter telephone for sending aeurrentthrough the said grounded wires for operating the said indicatingdevice, a source of power at the telephone that is calling, and acircuit-closer for closing the circuit from the latter source of powerwhen the said indicating device is operated and means in said circuitfor breaking the circuit leading to the ground.

l0. In a system forindicating the number of unsuccessful calls from atelephone, a set of main lines, a telephone on said lines, a eentralstation, a multiple switchboard at said central station, a jack in eachsection of the switchboard, said jacks being connected with the saidmain lines, a sectional wire extending past said jacks and connectingwith the ground, a device at the telephone for indicating the number ofunsuccessful calls made therefrom, means operated at the telephone IDOfor closing a circuit that includes the said the saidvindicating device,forthe purpose sectional Wire for signaling the central-staspecified. Iotion operator, a second grounded wire at the In testimony whereof I aixmy signature central station, a source of electric power couin thepresence of two witnesses.

nected with said Wire, and a plug for the jacks ALBERT J. SPRINGBORN. onsaid Wire, said plug having means for sep- Witnesses: arating thesectional Wire and for closing a S'. E. FOUTS,

circuit from thesource of power that leads to WALTER J. LISTER.

